Gov. Shapiro outraises Garrity by 10-to-1 margin in 1st quarter
Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat from Montgomery County who is seeking a second term, raised nearly $10.5 million.
By TOM FONTAINE
TribLive
State Treasurer Stacy Garrity raised more than $1 million for her gubernatorial campaign during the first three months of the year, but was outraised by incumbent Gov. Josh Shapiro by more than a 10-to-1 margin, campaign finance reports show.
Garrity, a Republican from Bradford County, filed paperwork Tuesday showing that she raised just over $1 million and spent nearly $530,000 from January through March. Accounting for money she carried into the year, Garrity’s campaign ended the first quarter with more than $1.5 million in available cash.
Shapiro, a Democrat from Montgomery County who is seeking a second term as governor, raised nearly $10.5 million and spent nearly $4.6 million during the first quarter, records show. His campaign ended the period with $36.1 million in available cash.
“The Garrity campaign is humbled by the support she has received from her supporters all across our commonwealth,” campaign spokesman Matt Beynon said in a statement.
“Unlike Josh Shapiro, who spent his time traveling to New York and Los Angeles to collect million-dollar checks from liberal billionaires like Reid Hoffman, who appeared more than 2,600 times in the Epstein files, Treasurer Garrity’s support comes from hardworking Pennsylvanians who donated because they recognize that Pennsylvania needs a turnaround,” Beynon added.
Despite the wide money gap, Beynon said Garrity’s campaign “will have the resources to hold (Shapiro) accountable for his failures and ethical scandals that have hurt Pennsylvania families.”
Among other things, Garrity’s campaign has been critical of the Shapiro administration’s handling of a sexual harassment complaint against one of Shapiro’s former senior advisers. Mike Vereb, a former state representative, resigned from Shapiro’s staff in 2023 after a woman accused him of making sexually suggestive, lewd comments while she was working for him. Shapiro’s office agreed to pay a $295,000 settlement that prohibited the parties involved from publicly discussing the allegations.
Garrity’s campaign noted that 96% of her campaign contributions came from donors in Pennsylvania, and 90% of the donations amounted to $100 or less.
In a statement issued last week after announcing the first-quarter fundraising haul, Shapiro’s campaign said, “This remarkably strong showing underscores the broad support for Gov. Shapiro’s leadership and his reelection campaign.”
In response to Garrity’s comments this week, Shapiro campaign spokesman Manuel Bonder said, “Stacy Garrity should stop playing politics with the Epstein files. Donald Trump is mentioned in the files over 5,000 times. Is she going to ask him to rescind his endorsement?”
